Meet star who was tailor, lived in chawl, now earns Rs 70 crore per film; is richer than Prabhas, Aishwarya, Rajinikanth

Many stars who now live in luxurious bungalows, once either didn’t have a place to sleep or lived in a single room with their family. One such star, who lived in a chawl, now earns 30 times more than his cast. The star we are talking about has given some of the cult classic films and blockbusters, and now actors dream to work in his films. He is none other than Sanjay Leela Bhansali. 

Sanjay Leela Bhansali was born in a chawl and lives with his family in a 10 by 10 room. He revealed in an interview that his father went into alcoholism after he failed to be a producer in Bollywood. His mother then took full responsibility and used to work as a tailor and thus, to help his mother, he used to stitch falls to the sarees.

He said in an interview, “We lived in a very poor house. We had no paint on the walls. Mom was a wonderful dancer, so she would dance in that small (space). We didn’t have good clothes to wear. So, there were a lot of things that I felt deprived of as a child, and my mind was always a filmmaker’s mind. When I was sitting and doing homework as a child, I would wonder what colour should the wall be. My mind was preoccupied with finding beauty in that lack of beauty, or lack of space. My sets are humungous because of that. We were all crammed into… Almost breathing onto each other.” 

He started working as an assistant director but soon made his debut in the romantic musical Khamoshi: The Musical.  He gained both mainstream and critical success with the romantic dramas Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas. He has now become one of the top directors in the country. 

According to reports, Sanjay Leela Bhansali charged 30 times his cast in Heeramandi. He reportedly earned Rs 60-70 crores for his role as a director. This makes him one of the highest-paid directors in Bollywood. Not only this, he has a whopping net worth of Rs 940 crore and is thus richer than some of the big stars like Prabhas (Rs 250 crore), Rajnikanth (Rs 450 crore) and Aishwarya Rai (Rs 862 core). Meanwhile, Sanjay Leela Bhansali will be working on Love & War, which also stars Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal in key roles. The film is scheduled to release in 2025.

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